Colleges: Surge keeps Worcester State men's soccer team alive

The MASCAC expanded its field for this week’s soccer tournaments from four teams to six, and that’s good news for the Worcester State men’s squad and captain DJ Gustafson of Webster.

The Lancers’ overall record of 4-10-2 isn’t great, but they won their last three games of the regular season to grab the fifth seed in the tourney. Gustafson, a fifth-year senior midfielder, is hoping to make the most of his final playoff appearance.

“It’s a whole new season once you get into the tournament,” Gustafson said. “I think we can make some noise, for sure.”

Gustafson, who helped lead Bartlett High to a state title in 2006, came back from injury to start all 16 games for the Lancers this season. In the third game of 2011, Gustafson fractured the tibia and fibula in his right leg and missed the rest of the season. He received a medical waiver to return to the Lancers this year.

“I was happy to come back,” said Gustafson, who was an All-MASCAC second-team selection as a sophomore, “but the other guys I played with for my whole college experience graduated last year, so I feel like the old guy on the team.”

Gustafson, who is finishing up course work toward his degree in business administration, which he will earn in December, is also working 25 hours a week at an accounting firm in Westboro this semester.

The Lancers, who last year advanced to the MASCAC semifinals and earned an ECAC Division 3 Tournament invitation, finished the regular season with wins over Fitchburg State, Rhode Island College and MCLA. Their schedule included three regionally ranked opponents.

“I feel like we played pretty well the whole season,” Gustafson said. “We just didn’t play a whole game together for most of the season. The past couple of weeks we’ve come together.”

Junior Brendan Whitson of Auburn has keyed the late-season run with seven points in the last three games. Whitson has eight goals and 21 points, both team highs.

Meanwhile, the Worcester State women’s soccer team qualified for the MASCAC tourney for the ninth straight year and earned the No. 2 seed. The Lancers (8-7-2) play the Bridgewater State/MCLA winner in the semis at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Worcester State women won the MASCAC championship in 2010, advanced to the final last year and went on to win the ECAC tourney championship.

Tory Benoit moved up to midfielder last year and helped her Roger Williams soccer team win its second straight Commonwealth Coast Conference championship.

This season, she returned to her usual center back position and happily has the Hawks vying for another title.

“Defense is where my heart is,” said Benoit, who protected the area in front of the net for her goalkeeper sister, Kristy, when they were teammates at Shrewsbury High. “It never stopped.”

The sisters helped the Colonials to the Central Mass. Division 1 crown in 2007. Kristy went on to play soccer at Babson and graduated magna cum laude in 2011. Tory, a junior, is likewise excelling on and off the field at Roger Williams.

“There are eight juniors on the team this year,” Benoit said, “and we’re all looking to keep it going. We want to win four out of four years here.”

Benoit also played basketball and tennis in high school. At Roger Williams, she’s on the outdoor track and field team — “just for fun” —– and competed in the heptathlon last spring.

Benoit, a CCC All-Academic selection, is considering a career in law, and last spring traveled to Europe to observe and compare court systems in England, the Netherlands and France. This winter, she will study the influence of sports on the Australian culture during visits to Sydney and Melbourne. Benoit has also participated in Roger Williams’ alternative spring break program, building houses in Arkansas in 2010 and 2011.

“I’ve just had so much to do my entire life, if I didn’t I think I’d just get bored,” she said.

Power was being restored to the Roger Williams campus yesterday afternoon following Hurricane Sandy. The team practiced indoors Monday and was back outside yesterday preparing for tomorrow’s game.

The Holy Cross men’s and women’s basketball teams will host exhibition games against Assumption this weekend at the Hart Center.

The men’s game is at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The women’s game is at 1 p.m. Sunday. As in years past, admission to the women’s game is $5 for adults and $3 for students, with all proceeds going to the Mercy Centre School in Worcester.

The Worcester State women’s basketball team will host kids clinics for girls ages 7-16 on Nov. 4 and 11. The clinics will be held from 1-5 p.m. each day and will include skill instruction, fundamentals and preparation for the season.

Worcester State also will hold a women’s basketball coaching clinic from 8:30 to noon on Nov. 11. The clinic will cover drills, practice ideas, plays and Xs and Os. The guest speaker will be Brian Wilson, Connecticut College coach and former Holy Cross assistant.

For information on the clinics, contact Worcester State women’s basketball coach Karen Tessmer at (508) 929-8769 or ktessmer@worcester.edu.